Coexistence operation of wireless devices

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises a controller configured to operate in an access point (AP) mode. The apparatus also includes a processing device. The processing device is configured to transmit a signal to one or more stations (STAs) to prevent the one or more STAs from using a frequency band. The frequency band is shared by the one or more STAs and a radio. The processing device is also configured to detect that the frequency band is available for use by at least one STA of the one or more STAs to transmit uplink signals to the controller without interfering with the radio; and in response, transmit a trigger frame to the at least one STA to schedule the at least one STA to transmit the uplink signals to the controller using the frequency band.

This Application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/445,002, filed on Jun. 18, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,159,948, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless devices,and more particularly, to coexistence operation of wireless devicesusing different communication protocols.

BACKGROUND

Multiple wireless devices using different communication protocols mayshare a common wireless medium. For example, a Bluetooth® radio and astation in a wireless local area network (WLAN) may share a commonwireless medium in a 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band. In thisexample, there are some solutions to ensure acceptable performance ofthe Bluetooth® radio and the station sharing the common wireless medium.One solution is clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2Self). However,CTS2Self may consume medium time for the station and backoff time tosend CTS2Self frames, and thus may have a low efficiency of using thewireless medium. Another solution is Target Wake Time (TWT) protocol.However, TWT protocol may not be supported by some stations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings in no waylimit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the describedembodiments by one skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the described embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a wireless system, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example diagram of coexistence operation ofwireless devices, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of coexistence operationof wireless devices, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of coexistence operationof wireless devices, in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The examples, implementations, and embodiments described herein mayenable coexistence operation of wireless devices using differentcommunication protocols. For example, a Bluetooth® (BT) radio and astation (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) may share a 2.4gigahertz (GHz) frequency band. A WLAN device may include a controllerand a processing device. The controller may operate in an access point(AP) mode to communicate with the STA. The processing device maytransmit a signal to the STA to prevent the STA from using the 2.4 GHzfrequency band. Thus, the BT radio may use the 2.4 GHz frequency band tocommunicate with a BT device without contention with the STA. Theprocessing device may detect that the frequency band is available foruse by the STA to transmit uplink signals to the controller withoutinterfering with the BT radio. In response, the processing device maytransmit a trigger frame to the STA to schedule the STA to transmit theuplink signals to the controller using the 2.4 GHz frequency band. TheSTA may then transmit the uplink signals to the controller withoutbackoff. Compared to existing solutions, the present disclosure hereinmay enable coexistence operation of wireless devices with a moreefficient use of the wireless medium.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a wireless system 100, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In oneembodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , the wireless system 100 includes a WLANdevice 101 and a BT device 102. In one example, the WLAN device 101 andthe BT device 102 may be co-located devices. In another example, theWLAN device 101 and the BT device 102 may be combined or located in asingle device. The WLAN device 101 and the BT device 102 may communicatewith each other via the interface 103.

In one embodiment, the wireless system 100 may also include one or moreSTAs in a WLAN network such as the STAs 111, 112 and a BT radio 113. TheSTAs 111, 112 and the BT radio 113 may share a common wireless medium ina 2.4 GHz frequency band. To avoid collision or contention between theSTAs 111, 112 and the BT radio 113, in one embodiment, the WLAN device101 may include a controller 1010 and a processing device 1011 tocontrol the uplink and downlink communications between the WLAN device101 and the STAs 111, 112, as described in greater details below.

In one embodiment, the WLAN device 101 or the controller 1010 mayoperate in an AP mode to communicate with the STAs 111 and 112. Theprocessing device 1011 may transmit a signal from the WLAN device 101 inthe AP mode to the STAs 111 and 112 to prevent the STAs 111 and 112 fromusing the 2.4 GHz frequency band. A radio frequency (RF) switch 104 mayallow the WLAN device 101 or the controller 1010 to communicate with theSTAs 111, 112 using a WiFi protocol. In one example, the RF switch 104may be co-located with the WLAN device 101 and the BT radio 113. Inanother example, the RF switch 104 may be combined or located in asingle device with the WLAN device 101 and the BT radio 113. Theprocessing device 1011 may transmit the signal via the antenna 105 andthe STAs 111 and 112 may receive the signal via the antennas 114 and 115respectively. In some other embodiments, the controller 1010 may beseparated from the WLAN device 101.

In one embodiment, the signal is a beacon signal defined in IEEE802.11ax standard. The beacon signal may be transmitted periodicallysuch as every 100 milliseconds. To prevent the STAs 111 and 112 fromusing the 2.4 GHz frequency band, in one embodiment, the processingdevice 1011 may set one or more multi-user (MU) enhanced distributedchannel access (EDCA) parameters in the beacon signal to a value toprevent the STAs 111 and 112 from using the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Forexample, the processing device 1011 may set the MU EDCA parameters to ahigh value to indicate that the STAs 111 and 112 need to wait for asufficient time period before they may access the 2.4 GHz frequencyband. In one embodiment, the sufficient time period may be 255 timeslots with each time slot having 9 microseconds. The beacon signal maybe transmitted to all STAs associated with the WLAN device 101. Afterreceiving the beacon signal, the high value of the MU EDCA parametersmay indicate to the STAs 111 and 112 that they need to start to wait andmay not access the 2.4 GHz frequency band to communicate with the WLANdevice 101. In this way, the STAs 111 and 112 may be effectivelyprevented from using the 2.4 GHz frequency band.

After the STAs 111 and 112 are prevented from using the 2.4 GHzfrequency band, in one embodiment, the BT radio 113 may operate in the2.4 GHz frequency band to communicate with the BT device 102. Becausethe 2.4 GHz frequency band is now available or open to the BT radio 113,the BT radio 113 may communicate with the BT device 102 withoutinterfering with the STAs 111 and 112. For example, the RF switch 104may allow the BT device 102 to communicate with the BT radio 113 using aBT protocol and disallow the WLAN device 101 to communicate with theSTAs 111 and 112 using the WiFi protocol. The BT device 102 maycommunicate with the BT radio 113 via the antenna 105, and the BT radio113 may communicate with the BT device 102 via the antenna 116.

In one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may detect that the 2.4GHz frequency band is available for use by at least one STA (e.g., theSTA 111) of the STAs 111 and 112 to transmit uplink signals to the WLANdevice 101 or the controller 1010 without interfering with the BT radio113. In this embodiment, the processing device 1011 may detect that theBT radio 113 is not using the 2.4 GHz frequency band for a time period.For example, the BT device 102 may transmit information to the WLANdevice 101 or the processing device 1011 via the interface 103 to notifythe processing device 1011 that the BT radio 113 is not or will notusing the 2.4 GHz frequency band for a time period.

After detecting that the 2.4 GHz frequency band is available for use bythe STA 111, in one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may transmita trigger frame from the WLAN device 101 to the STA 111 to schedule theSTA 111 to transmit the uplink signals to the WLAN device 101 or thecontroller 1010 using the 2.4 GHz frequency band. For example, afterdetecting that the BT radio 113 is not using the 2.4 GHz frequency bandfor a time period, the processing device 1011 may transmit the triggerframe to schedule the STA 111 to transmit the uplink signals using the2.4 GHz frequency band during the time period. In one embodiment, thetrigger frame is defined in IEEE 802.11ax standard. After receiving thetrigger frame, the STA 111 may transmit the uplink signals using the 2.4GHz frequency band to the WLAN device 101 during the time period withoutcontention with the BT radio 113. For example, the RF switch 104 mayallow the WLAN device 101 to receive the uplink signals from the STA111.

In one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may transmit the triggerframe to schedule the STA 111 to transmit the uplink signals to the WLANdevice 101 using the 2.4 GHz frequency band without backoff. In thisembodiment, when the STA 111 receives the trigger frame, other STAsassociated with the WLAN device 101 (e.g., the STA 112) are stillprevented from using the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Thus, when the STA 111transmits the uplink signals using the 2.4 GHz frequency band to theWLAN device 101, there is no contention from other STAs and backoff isnot needed. Therefore, the STA 111 may transmit the uplink signals tothe WLAN device 101 using the 2.4 GHz frequency band without backoff. Inthis way, higher efficiency of using the wireless medium in the 2.4 GHzfrequency band may be achieved.

In one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may detect that the 2.4GHz frequency band is available for use by the WLAN device 101 totransmit downlink signals to the STAs 111 and 112 without interferingwith the BT radio 113. In response, the processing device 1011 mayschedule the WLAN device 101 to transmit the downlink signals to theSTAs 111 and 112 using the 2.4 GHz frequency band. For example, the BTdevice 102 may transmit information to the WLAN device 101 or theprocessing device 1011 via the interface 103 to notify the processingdevice 1011 that the BT radio 113 is not or will not using the 2.4 GHzfrequency band for a time period. Thus the WLAN device 101 may transmitthe downlink signals to the STAs 111 and 112 using the 2.4 GHz frequencyband during the time period. For example, the RF switch 104 may allowthe WLAN device 101 or the controller 1010 to transmit the downlinksignals to the STAs 111 and 112.

Examples, implementations, and embodiments described with reference toFIG. 1 are not intended to be limiting. In other embodiments, thewireless system 100 may include a different number of STAs. In otherembodiments, the wireless system 100 may include one or more wirelessdevices using communication protocols other than Bluetooth® protocol andsharing the wireless medium with the STAs. For example, the wirelessdevices may use Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or Zigbee protocols. In otherembodiments, the frequency band may be a different frequency band suchas the 5 GHz frequency band.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example diagram of coexistence operation ofwireless devices, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown, in one embodiment, the WLAN device 101 or morespecifically the processing device 1011 may transmit a beacon signal toall associated STAs such as the STAs 111 and 112 to prevent all theassociated STAs from using the 2.4 GHz frequency band, as indicated byarrow 201. The processing device 1011 may set the MU EDCA parameters forthe STAs to have a high value to prevent the STAs from using the 2.4 GHzfrequency band. In this way, the STAs 111 and 112 may be effectivelyprevented from using the 2.4 GHz frequency band.

In one embodiment, the BT radio 113 may request to use the 2.4 GHzfrequency band to communicate with the BT device 102 for a time period,as indicated by arrow 202. Because all the STAs associated with the WLANdevice 101 have been prevented from using the 2.4 GHz frequency band asdescribed above, there is no contention between the STAs and the BTradio 113. Thus, the processing device 1011 may grant the BT radio 113to use the 2.4 GHz frequency band to communicate with the BT device 102for the requested time period (X1 milliseconds), as indicated by arrow203.

In one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may detect that the BTradio 113 is not or will not use the 2.4 GHz frequency band for a timeperiod (Y1 milliseconds), as indicated by arrow 204. Thus, this timeperiod is available for WLAN uplink or downlink communications betweenthe STAs and the WLAN device 101 without interfering with the BT radio113. In one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may transmit atrigger frame to at least one STA such as the STA 111 to schedule theSTA 111 to transmit uplink signals to the wireless device 101 using the2.4 GHz frequency band, as indicated by arrow 205. After the STA 111receives the trigger frame, the STA 111 may transmit the uplink signalsto the WLAN device 101 using the 2.4 GHz frequency band without backoff,as indicated by arrow 206. After the STA 111 transmits the uplinksignals to the WLAN device 101, the STA 111 may restart to wait the timeperiod indicated by the value of the corresponding MU EDCA parameter.For example, after the STA 111 transmits the uplink signals to the WLANdevice 101, the STA 111 may restart to wait for 255 time slots.

In one embodiment, during the time period (Y1 milliseconds), theprocessing device 1011 may also schedule the WLAN device 101 to transmitdownlink signals to the STAs 111 and 112 using the 2.4 GHz frequencyband. And the WLAN device 101 may transmit the downlink signals to theSTAs 111 and 112 using the 2.4 GHz frequency band without interferingwith the BT radio 113, as indicate by arrow 207.

In one embodiment, the processing device 1011 may perform a shortbackoff (e.g., 1-2 time slots) before it transmits the beacon signal orthe downlink signals to avoid any potential contention with the WLANdevice 101.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 300 of coexistenceoperation of wireless device, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 300 may be performedby the WLAN device 101. The method 300 begins at block 301, where themethod 300 comprises setting one or more MU EDCA parameters in a beaconsignal to a value to prevent one or more STAs (e.g., the STAs 111 and/or112) from using a frequency band, the frequency band being shared by theone or more STAs and a radio (e.g., the BT radio 113). At block 302, themethod 300 comprises transmitting the signal from a wireless device(e.g., the WLAN device 101) in an AP mode to the one or more STAs toprevent the one or more STAs from using a frequency band.

At block 303, the method 300 comprises detecting that the frequency bandis available for use by at least one STA of the one or more STAs totransmit uplink signals to the wireless device without interfering withthe radio. And in response, at block 304, the method 300 comprisestransmitting a trigger frame from the wireless device to the at leastone STA to schedule the at least one STA to transmit the uplink signalsto the wireless device using the frequency band.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 400 of coexistenceoperation of wireless device, in accordance with another embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The method 400 begins at block 401, where themethod 400 comprises transmitting a signal from a wireless device (e.g.,the WLAN device 101) in an AP mode to one or more STAs (e.g., the STAs111 and/or 112) to prevent the one or more STAs from using a frequencyband, the frequency band being shared by the one or more STAs and aradio (e.g., the BT radio 113).

At block 402, the method 400 comprises operating the radio in thefrequency band to communicate with a second wireless device (e.g., theBT device 102) without interfering with the one or more STAs. At block403, the method 400 comprises detecting that the radio is not using thefrequency band for a time period. At block 443, the method 400 comprisestransmitting a trigger frame from the wireless device to at least oneSTA of the one or more STAs to schedule the at least one STA to transmituplink signals to the wireless device using the frequency band duringthe time period.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, terms such as “receiving,”“generating,” “verifying,” “performing,” “correcting,” “identifying,” orthe like, refer to actions and processes performed or implemented bycomputing devices that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities within the computing device's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computing device memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices.

Examples described herein also relate to an apparatus for performing theoperations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructedfor the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purposecomputing device selectively programmed by a computer program stored inthe computing device. Such a computer program may be stored in acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium.

Certain embodiments may be implemented as a computer program productthat may include instructions stored on a machine-readable medium. Theseinstructions may be used to program a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor to perform the described operations. A machine-readable mediumincludes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form(e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limitedto, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); optical storagemedium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read-only memory(ROM); random-access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g.,EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or another type of medium suitable forstoring electronic instructions. The machine-readable medium may bereferred to as a non-transitory machine-readable medium.

The methods and illustrative examples described herein are notinherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus.Various general purpose systems may be used in accordance with theteachings described herein, or it may prove convenient to construct morespecialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The requiredstructure for a variety of these systems will appear as set forth in thedescription above.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. Although the present disclosure has been described withreferences to specific illustrative examples, it will be recognized thatthe present disclosure is not limited to the examples described. Thescope of the disclosure should be determined with reference to thefollowing claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which theclaims are entitled.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, “includes”, and/or “including”, when used herein, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. Also, the terms “first,” “second,”“third,” “fourth,” etc., as used herein are meant as labels todistinguish among different elements and may not necessarily have anordinal meaning according to their numerical designation. Therefore, theterminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures.For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

Although the method operations were described in a specific order, itshould be understood that other operations may be performed in betweendescribed operations, described operations may be adjusted so that theyoccur at slightly different times or the described operations may bedistributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the processingoperations at various intervals associated with the processing.

Various units, circuits, or other components may be described or claimedas “configured to” or “configurable to” perform a task or tasks. In suchcontexts, the phrase “configured to” or “configurable to” is used toconnote structure by indicating that the units/circuits/componentsinclude structure (e.g., circuitry) that performs the task or tasksduring operation. As such, the unit/circuit/component can be said to beconfigured to perform the task, or configurable to perform the task,even when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currentlyoperational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used withthe “configured to” or “configurable to” language include hardware—forexample, circuits, memory storing program instructions executable toimplement the operation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is“configured to” perform one or more tasks, or is “configurable to”perform one or more tasks, is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C.112(f), for that unit/circuit/component. Additionally, “configured to”or “configurable to” can include generic structure (e.g., genericcircuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware (e.g., anFPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) to operate inmanner that is capable of performing the task(s) at issue. “Configuredto” may also include adapting a manufacturing process (e.g., asemiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g.,integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement or perform one ormore tasks. “Configurable to” is expressly intended not to apply toblank media, an unprogrammed processor or unprogrammed generic computer,or an unprogrammed programmable logic device, programmable gate array,or other unprogrammed device, unless accompanied by programmed mediathat confers the ability to the unprogrammed device to be configured toperform the disclosed function(s).

The foregoing description, for the purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the embodiments andvarious modifications as may be suited to the particular usecontemplated. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be consideredas illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to belimited to the details given herein, but may be modified within thescope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processingdevice of a first wireless device, a request from a second wirelessdevice to access a frequency band for a first amount of time;preventing, by the processing device, a plurality of stations (STAs)associated with the first wireless device from using the frequency bandfor a second amount of time that is greater than the first amount oftime; granting, by the processing device, access to the frequency bandto the second wireless device at a first time and for the first amountof time; receiving, by the processing device via an interface betweenthe first wireless device and a third wireless device, a notificationthat the frequency band is available for use by the first wirelessdevice to communicate with the plurality of STAs without interferingwith the second wireless device at a second time after the first amountof time and for a third amount of time, wherein the third wirelessdevice is co-located with the first wireless device and the thirdwireless device is associated with the second wireless device, wherein asum of the first amount of time and the third amount of time is lessthan the second amount of time; transmitting, by the first wirelessdevice, a trigger frame to a first STA of the plurality of STAs toschedule the first STA to transmit uplink data to the first wirelessdevice using the frequency band at a third time and during the thirdamount of time without backoff, wherein the third time is after thesecond time; and receiving, by the first wireless device, the uplinkdata from the first STA using the frequency band at the third time andduring the third amount of time.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: scheduling, by the processing device, the first wirelessdevice to transmit downlink data to a second STA of the plurality ofSTAs at a fourth time and during the third amount of time, wherein thefourth time is after the second time; and transmitting, by the firstwireless device, the downlink data to the second STA at the fourth timeand during the third amount of time.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe first STA and the second STA are the same STA.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the first wireless device,a second trigger frame to a second STA of the plurality of STAs toschedule the second STA to transmit second uplink data to the firstwireless device using the frequency band at a fourth time and during thethird amount of time without backoff, wherein the fourth time is afterthe second time; and receiving, by the first wireless device, the seconduplink data from the second STA using the frequency band at the fourthtime and during the third amount of time.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein preventing the plurality of STAs from using the frequency bandfor the second amount of time comprises: setting one or more multi-user(MU) enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameters in a beaconsignal to a value corresponding to the second amount of time to preventthe plurality of STAs from using the frequency band, the frequency bandbeing shared by the plurality of STAs and the second wireless device;and transmitting, by the first wireless device, the beacon signal to theplurality of STAs to prevent the plurality of STAs from using thefrequency band for the second amount of time.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the beacon signal is defined in IEEE 802.11ax standard.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the frequency band includes a 2.4 gigahertz(GHz) frequency band.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstwireless device is a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, thesecond wireless device is a first wireless personal area network (WPAN)device, and the third wireless device is a second WPAN device.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the trigger frame is defined in IEEE 802.11axstandard.
 10. An electronic device comprising: a first wireless device;a second wireless device co-located with the first wireless device; andan interface coupled between the first wireless device and the secondwireless device, wherein the first wireless device is configured to:receive a request from a third wireless device to access a frequencyband for a first amount of time; prevent a plurality of stations (STAs)associated with the first wireless device from using the frequency bandfor a second amount of time that is greater than the first amount oftime; grant access to the frequency band to the third wireless device ata first time and for the first amount of time; receive, via theinterface, a notification that the frequency band is available for useby the first wireless device to communicate with the plurality of STAswithout interfering with the third wireless device at a second timeafter the first amount of time and for a third amount of time, wherein asum of the first amount of time and the third amount of time is lessthan the second amount of time; transmit a trigger frame to a first STAof the plurality of STAs to schedule the first STA to transmit uplinkdata to the first wireless device using the frequency band at a thirdtime and during the third amount of time without backoff, wherein thethird time is after the second time; and receive the uplink data fromthe first STA using the frequency band at the third time and during thethird amount of time.
 11. The electronic device of claim 10, furthercomprising: an antenna; and a radio frequency (RF) switch coupled to thefirst wireless device, the second wireless device, and the antenna. 12.The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the first wireless device isa wireless local area network (WLAN) device comprising: a controllerconfigured to operate in an access point (AP) mode to receive therequest from the third wireless device, prevent the plurality of STAsfrom using the frequency band, grant access to the frequency band to thethird wireless device, transmit the trigger frame, and receive theuplink data; and a processing device configured to receive, via theinterface, the notification from the second wireless device.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 10, wherein the second wireless device is awireless personal area network (WPAN) device.
 14. The electronic deviceof claim 10, wherein the first wireless device is further configured to:schedule the first wireless device to transmit downlink data to a secondSTA of the plurality of STAs at a fourth time and during the thirdamount of time, wherein the fourth time is after the second time; andtransmit the downlink data to the second STA at the fourth time andduring the third amount of time.
 15. The electronic device of claim 14,wherein the first STA and the second STA are the same STA.
 16. Theelectronic device of claim 10, wherein the first wireless device isfurther configured to: transmit a second trigger frame to a second STAof the plurality of STAs to schedule the second STA to transmit seconduplink data to the first wireless device using the frequency band at afourth time and during the third amount of time without backoff, whereinthe fourth time is after the second time; and receive the second uplinkdata from the second STA using the frequency band at the fourth time andduring the third amount of time.
 17. The electronic device of claim 10,wherein, to prevent the plurality of STAs from using the frequency bandfor the second amount of time, the first wireless device is furtherconfigured to: set one or more multi-user (MU) enhanced distributedchannel access (EDCA) parameters in a beacon signal to a valuecorresponding to the second amount of time to prevent the plurality ofSTAs from using the frequency band, the frequency band being shared bythe plurality of STAs and the third wireless device; and transmit thebeacon signal to the plurality of STAs to prevent the plurality of STAsfrom using the frequency band for the second amount of time, wherein thebeacon signal and the trigger frame are defined in IEEE 802.11axstandard, and wherein the frequency band includes a 2.4 gigahertz (GHz)frequency band.
 18. A method comprising: transmitting a signal from afirst wireless device in an access point (AP) mode to a plurality ofstations (STAs) to prevent the plurality of STAs from using a frequencyband for a first amount of time, the frequency band being shared by theplurality of STAs and a second wireless device; receiving a request fromthe second wireless device to access the frequency band for a secondamount of time less than the first amount of time; granting access tothe frequency band to the second wireless device at a first time and forthe second amount of time in response to determining that the pluralityof STAs are prevented from using the frequency band; operating thesecond wireless device in the frequency band to communicate with a thirdwireless device without interfering with the plurality of STAs at thefirst time and for the second amount of time, wherein the third wirelessdevice is co-located with the first wireless device; determining thatthe second wireless device is not using the frequency band at a secondtime after the second amount of time and for a third amount of time,wherein a sum of the second amount of time and the third amount of timeis less than the first amount of time; transmitting a trigger frame fromthe first wireless device to the plurality of STAs to schedule to afirst STA of the plurality of STAs to schedule the first STA to transmituplink signals to the first wireless device using the frequency band ata third time and during the third amount of time without backoff,wherein the third time is after the second time; and receiving theuplink signals from the first STA using the frequency band at the thirdtime and during the third amount of time.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein determining that the second wireless device is not using thefrequency band at the second time comprises receiving from the thirdwireless device a notification that the frequency band is available foruse by the first wireless device.
 20. The method of claim 18, furthercomprising: scheduling the first wireless device to transmit downlinksignals to a second STA of the plurality of STAs at a fourth time andduring the third amount of time, wherein the fourth time is after thesecond time; and transmitting the downlink signals to the second STA atthe fourth time and during the third amount of time.